Safety expert companies join forces for automotive ECUs

March 22, 2012 //
By Christoph Hammerschmidt

Automotive safety expert company Silver Atena and manufacturing services provider Sitronic have announced a strategic partnership: The companies plan to join their forces in the areas of safety-critical ECUs, electrifying of auxiliary components, intelligent sensors and battery management.

"By bundling our manufacturing and design resources we can offer a comprehensive spectrum of a systems provider while maintaining the flexibility of the two vendors," explained Silver Atena general manager Josef Mitterhuber. The goal of the collaboration is to achieve synergy effects resulting from the combination of R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Silver Atena plans to contribute its expertise in safety-related electronics development and in particular its expertise in design processes according to ISO 26262 up to ASIL level C; Sitronic contributes its experience as a manufacturing services provider for the automotive industry with significant know-how in production processes.

At the congress of the German automotive industry association VDA this week, the companies already introduced a reference project as the first fruit of their collaboration: An electronic controller for a roll stabilizer. The product is designed to meet the requirements of mid- to high-class vehicles, in particular for Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs). A Silver Atena spokesperson explained that the device is not a feasibility study but a real product which will be marketed to car OEMs.

For the time being the automotive market is the focus point of the collaboration. Going forward the companies plan to address other markets where safety is a critical factor, such as aerospace and industrial electronics.